From: Naite Mascaro [naite@micmiami.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2001 9:58 AM
To: EXECSEC
Subject: ANTIBOIOTICS
Dear Ms. Henney,
I am writing to urge you to establish a reporting system to determine the quantity of antibiotics that are employed in U.S. agriculture. The rise in antibiotic resistance is slowly eliminating the efficacy of these drugs in treating infections in humans. We must stop the misuse of antibiotics not only in human medicine but also in agriculture. If we continue misusing these drugs, they will turn from beneficial to futile when they fail to cure the diseases that they were designed to treat.
We need government guaranteed information on the usage of antibiotics in our country, in order to create effective solutions for minimizing their use. The Food and Drug Administration needs to take the necessary steps to establish a system that will collect data on agricultural antibiotic use in our country. This information should be complied for both human and agricultural use. this data should also include the class, indication, dosage, and treatment period.
Please Ms. Henney, I urge you to look into this matter, and to bring it up to the Bush administration. We need to do something before it's too late. If we fail to act soon, we will soon face epidemics for which there are no effective antibiotics.
Sincerely,
Victoria N. Mascaro
Miami, FL